Of Tennis Ball and Memory Loss
by lavieheureuse
Summary: Taemin was hit by a tennis ball. Hard. 2Min  MinhoxTaemin . Ongoing.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Of Tennis Ball and Memory Loss

Type: Chaptered

Chapters: 1/?

Pairing: Minho/Taemin

Rate: PG13

Genre: Romance

* * *

><p>It was another one fine spring day when Taemin walked out of the company building, heading towards the van, before was hit by a tennis ball.<p>

Hard.

**ooo**

He woke up by slowly opening his heavy lids, his eyes took time to adjust with the white surroundings beamed by the neon light, and when he finally could fully open his eyes, he saw four faces looking at him worriedly.

And they all started talking at the same time.

"Taemin-ah!"

"How do you feel, dongsaeng-ah?"

"You're awake!" Obviously.

"Shut up you all! He doesn't need the lot of us talking loudly at the same time!" Thank you for that, but fyi, you' re the one talking the loudest, so no thanks to you at the end. Taemin groaned, it felt like someone was knocking his skull with a rubber hammer.

A big, warm hand reached to pat his head, Taemin tilted over to get a clearer view of the owner. He was now looking at a very good-looking boy with calming smile, although some bigger part of his face clearly shouted his worries and confusions.

"Kibum-hyung," Taemin forced a smile in reply to his kindness. "I'm fine, still trying to gather back my consciousness." He hoped for his lips to stop trembling, he hated being so weak.

Suddenly, a dead silence.

The youngest looked at the four people around him, they were looking at him as if he had eaten something radioactive.

"Did he—" a husky voice cracked. "Minho, did he just call you Kibum-hyung?" Four pair of eyes glared at Minho, then Kibum, and back to Taemin.

For the second time, all four voices shouted in unison, "DOCTOR!"

**ooo **

Minho stared at the youngest helplessly, the latter was scanning through a clipping of articles that Jonghyun had given to him, his expression was a mixture of confusion, shock, and sadness. The other three members were sitting, circling him. Minho felt his chest ached at the sight, and at the memories of what happened earlier that afternoon.

_"Amnesia?"_

_"Mr. Lee's latter parts of brain suffer the most from the hit, amnesia was inevitable. Whether it is permanent, or not, has yet to be determined." The doctor scrutinized the shocked-turned-angry faces in front of him, or the four eldest members of SHINee, to be exact._

_Jinki regained his composure the fastest, and turned his gaze right to Minho, whom he would think had just died with eyes opened if his chest hadn't been up and down from the heavy breathing._

_Taemin, his Taemin…_

_"Doctor, is there anything we can do to gain his memory back?" Jinki asked cautiously._

_"You have to remind him about himself. His habits, for example. What he likes and what he doesn't. He also may have names and places confusion, so make sure one of you stick around him in case he needs to be helped," the doctor sighed, he could go for hours explaining the clueless four young men about ways to help people who suffers from memory loss, but he decided to go straight to the most important point._

_"Amnesia could very well affect the sufferer's mental," his voice was low. "In most severe cases it can lead to self-disowning then suicide. Don't push him to remember everything quickly because it can cause mental instability, he would feel disappointed towards himself, for disappointing you," the doctor said. "The way you treat him in his recovering state would affect his success in his treatment."_

**ooo**

"That was one time when we had to perform with company's other artists," said Jonghyun cheerfully while pointing at a photo in the clipping. "Every year we hold a joint concert with our seniors and juniors, we travel a lot too. You liked it, Taeminnie, travelling. You loved being in new places and meeting people."

"You do most of our group's dancing part," Kibum's laugh was heart-warming and Taemin couldn't help but smile. "We're always so proud of you, our dancing machine maknae. Though the rest of us are pretty decent dancers too, except for this chicken…" the third youngest ruffled the leader's hair and chuckled at Jinki's pout. Taemin looked down in embarrassment, not sure how to take the compliments from his bandmates. Maknae did have maknae's problems, seriously.

"W-What about you?" he dared himself looking at his three hyungs, and quickly realized that his question was kind of unclear, but the elders seemed to understand.

"Jonghyun here, he is the lead vocal," explained Jinki, Taemin looked at the second eldest, who was raising his brows up and down to him (and grinning very smugly, but he quickly removed his thought because a good dongsaeng shouldn't think badly of his hyung), he knew that that husky voice was something the moment he heard him speak.

"Kibummie is in charge of both rap and vocal," Jinki patted Key's back affectionately, Taemin observed quietly. "And he cooks too, he's the band-umma. God, he even walked you to school, Taemin-ah!" Taemin blushed, he felt like being spoilt too much.

"Onew—Jinki-hyung, somehow, was pointed as our leader. Whether sajangnim's head was knocked on something or not when he made that decision, nobody knows," Jonghyun grinned very, very devilishly towards the eldest. Jinki smacked him lightly. "He's the sub-vocalist. Oh, he does Donald Duck beatbox version too," that line successfully brought laughter to the room. "And Minho—Minho what are you doing, you've been staring into space for some time there. Come sit here," Jonghyun patted the empty space beside him. Minho walked to them hesitantly, but joined them anyway, without not noticing a slight uncomfortable shift from Taemin's sitting position.

He could tell the maknae had a particular guilt toward him, for calling him wrong name that afternoon. He wanted to tell the adorable boy that it was okay, well, he was very not okay with Taemin didn't remember his name, his boyfriend's name for heaven's sake, but he understood.

"So, Minho," Kibum playfully wrapped an arm around Minho's waist, earning him a warning glare from the latter, but didn't care. "Why don't you tell Taeminnie about… yourself?"

Minho gulped. This is exactly what he needed, another awkward moment, he thought angrily. But remembering what the doctor said earlier, he decided to deal with Kibum's snare and suck up Jonghyun's knowing smirk. He would get his revenge later.

"I'm the second youngest," Minho started. Taemin looked at him anxiously. "I, uh, do the rap. I…" he was lost for words. I am the tallest of us? I'm good at sports and moving watermelon seeds with straw? Dream Team's ace? I care about you so much, I even said it on a radio program? I love you? It was weird, talking about yourself to the person who once knew you better than yourself.

Awkward silence.

"Were… were we close?" Stupid stupid stupid, Taemin soon regretted his question. Why did he burst out without thinking?

But, to his surprise, he saw a faint urge to laugh on Minho's handsome face, which was quickly replaced by a sincere, comforting smile. "Yes, Taemin-ah. Yes, we were."


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Of Tennis Ball and Memory Loss

Type: Chaptered

Chapters: 2/?

Pairing: Minho/Taemin

Rate: PG13

Genre: Romance

* * *

><p>It was two o'clock in the morning when Taemin decided that sleep was useless. It was not as if he needed much. His bandmates had gone home hours ago, and he felt kind of… empty without the loud, almost violent ambience around him. Although he hadn't gained much of his memories back, the members seemed very supportive and loving and caring that made him determined to recover as soon as possible.<p>

The manager told him the company had pronounced a break for their promotion, and the other members would be involved in individual projects as he was being hospitalized. His ward was already full with gifts from fans, from pinkish get-well-soon cards to imported, expensive health drinks. A fanbase had sent him a half-life-sized teddy bear. It was funny that he couldn't remember something as simple as whether or not he liked teddy bears, but it was hard not to like this massive, fluffy, warm thing.

And he wondered how did he feel about his members before this mess happened. Whom did he respect the most? Whom did he fear the most? Whom did he talk the least to? He sighed as he hugged his newly found friend, a teddy bear that was, closer to his chest.

The fail-y Jinki-hyung, the sly Jonghyun-hyung, the motherly Kibum-hyung, the handsome Minho-hyung… Handsome? Did he just think that? He felt his face reddening.

The hospital was so silent, so silent it was almost deafening.

He just wished his friends would visit him again soon.

**ooo **

It was six o'clock in the morning when Minho decided he couldn't stand staying at the dorm waiting for his Dream Team shooting schedule with Taemin's face haunting him so much he couldn't sleep at all.

So he took a quick shower and dressed before waking the three elders up a little too rude and got hit with two pillows coming from Kibum and Jinki. Surprisingly, Jonghyun woke up fast and agreed to accompany him to the hospital, as he yawned and grabbed a towel and walked towards their bathroom.

An hour later, the two were seen walking in the hospital corridor, earning some weird glances since it was way too early from visiting hours. But no one made a fuss anyway, they were SHINee members after all.

They entered Taemin's ward just to see their dongsaeng eating his breakfast while watching TV. Minho's heart sank to his bottom when he saw Taemin's cheeks puffed while munching his food. _So cute_, he thought.

Jonghyun studied Minho's face and whispered, "And so not yours."

He received a hard smack on his head, the joke was a little too harsh.

"Ah, hyungdeul," Taemin said gleefully, the loud smack apparently got his attention. "I'm glad you came so early! Aside from these gifts and TV, I have nothing much to do for fun."

Jonghyun approached the maknae and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Of course it is not fun without me, I'm the life of the party after all." Taemin's laughter was music to Minho's ears.

"Quit monopolizing him, Jonghyun-hyung."

The eldest of the three smirked. He eyed Minho and gave his famous shifty smirk. _Jealous?_

"My god, Minho," Jonghyun's voice echoed through the tallest's ears. "Wait until you see me feeding Taeminnie his breakfast. Open your mouth, dongsaengie. Aaah—hey!"

"If anyone is going to feed him, that would be me," Minho snatched the spoon away from Jonghyun's hand and sat on Taemin's bed, then gave his boyfriend a spoonful of porridge, making the youngest's cheeks tinted with pink.

_Minho-hyung is so intimidating, yet so sexy…_ the dancer thought embarrassedly. The elder did look excellent in his dark designer jeans, his white cardigan was buttoned with the sleeves pulled up, his checkered gray shirt sleeves were rolled, covering the ends of his cardigans' sleeves. Taemin fought a blush. He felt like a star-struck teenager. Well, he was actually one.

The tallest scrutinized the thinner boy and grinned at himself as he found Taemin's fair-skinned cheeks were shaded with pink. _Amnesia or not, he couldn't escape this flaming charisma effect huh? _

Minho spooned the last drop of porridge and cleaned the tips of Taemin's mouth with a handkerchief, making the poor youngest 's face lit with visible red. He lowered his head, avoiding Minho's eyes.

"Done," Minho said. "Do you need anything else, lov—Taemin?" _Damn, almost slipped_, he mentally slapped his own forehead.

Jonghyun had to suppress his laughter with his hand at that.

"N-No," the maknae squeaked out of embarrassment. "Thank you hyung."

Minho's mumbled his lame reply, "You're welcome."

As if on cue, something vibrated and rang. The second youngest searched in his pocket and found his cell phone beeping.

"Shit," he cursed. "The Dream Team shooting starts earlier today," he gave Jonghyun a look. The latter simply knew what was in his mind.

"You can take the car. I'll ask manager-hyung to pick me up."

"Thanks, you're the best," Minho sighed in relief. "Taemin-ah, get enough rest, okay? The others will visit you once they're done with schedule," he paused. "I'll be back at dinner and eat here with you, if you want."

"I-I'd love to," Taemin replied shyly. Gods, why did that sound as if he was replying to someone asking for a date?

Minho smiled brightly. "Great. Bye everyone," he winked at his boyfriend (making him blush harder) and sent Jonghyun a mock salute before disappearing through the door.

There was a pause between the two before Taemin broke it, "He's so…"

The lead singer grinned, "Cool? That's Minho for ya. Mess with him, his car, his gadgets and anything else but his work and boyfriend, otherwise you'll end up half-dead crawling out from a dumpster somewhere."

Taemin felt a slight pang on his chest, "He… he has a boyfriend?"

_Gotcha. _Jonghyun feigned a cough to cover his laugh. "Yeah."

"Alright…" the pang hardened, but Taemin ignored it.

Jonghyun couldn't stand seeing his lovely dongsaeng's face fell. "Minho cares for you a lot, you know. He would do anything if you're the one asking. You should ask him to stay here overnight, with that maybe you can remember a thing or two."

"Really?" Taemin's eyes widened. The vocalist nodded.

The cute boy gave Jonghyun a childish, hopeful smile. "I'm so happy."

* * *

><p>AN: I... how should I say this, I WANT COMMENTS! /cries Writing is hard and not enjoyable without feedbacks, so please give me some reviews even if you are to say that I suck ;_; And if you think this story should or should not be continued, please say so :) Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Of Tennis Ball and Memory Loss

Type: Chaptered

Chapters: 3/?

Pairing: Minho/Taemin

Rate: PG13

Genre: Romance

* * *

><p>Somehow, Jonghyun managed to get Taemin to manage to get their manager-hyung to clear Minho's schedule for that night and stayed with Taemin at the hospital. Taemin was reluctant at first, saying though as much as he wanted Minho to stay, he didn't want to disturb the elder boy. Jonghyun said Taemin would do Minho a favor since the tallest needed to stop working for his own good. Their manager could or could not have been drunk as he easily agreed, "Just this once," he said firmly before hanging up his phone.<p>

Taemin was full of anticipation, and so was Minho. They hoped for a good quality time together.

But of course, that would never happened as Hongki, all of a sudden, appeared at Taemin's door.

"What," Minho's rage didn't make Hongki stepped back. "Are you doing here?"

"Visiting my lover," Hongki answered nonchalantly. He walked in and sat on Taemin's bed without even asking for permission. "Hey, you doin' good? Remember me?"

"Uhm…" Taemin couldn't quite call who was this chirpy, brown-locked boy intruding his peaceful ward. "I… are we close or something?"

"Man, that kinda hurt. Seriously, don't you remember me?" Hongki brought his hands to his chest and feigned a hurt expression, Taemin laughed.

"You? How do you think I feel?" Minho grunted, his hurt expression was not fake. Taemin gulped his saliva guiltily.

"Wait," there was some kind of horror shadowing Hongki's face. "You," he pointed his finger at Taemin, "Don't remember him," his index finger was now pointed at Minho, "Either?"

Taemin shook his head sadly.

Hongki rose to his feet and yanked Minho's shirt before anyone could say "No".

"Just what the hell are you doing?" Minho's voice was down in angry whisper, hands covering his bare chest. If they weren't at hospital, Minho would've screamed at the F.T. Island member there and then.

"Watch him carefully, Taemin-ah. Do you remember anything, now?"

Taemin, whose face was tucked under his blanket out of embarrassment, replied weakly, "No…" _Ohmygodhischestohmygod—_

"Too bad," Hongki sighed, he threw Minho's shirt back to its owner. "I heard shock therapy could work quite well, well, certainly not this time."

Taemin sank deeper under his blanket whilst Minho facepalmed.

"Why can't you let people be in peace whenever you go?" the dark-haired grunted, putting on his shirt back.

"If that's how you say I'm awesome... why, thank you so much," Hongki turned to face Taemin. "We are best mates, dear. And if you're tired of people getting impatient about this whole amnesia thing, don't hesitate to count on me for help."

Taemin nodded and flashed a small smile. "Thank you, um..."

"Hongki. Lee Hongki."

"Hongki-hyung?" Taemin grinned a bit too doubtfully, hoping for Hongki to respond.

"Right. At least you remember that I'm older than you," the brown-haired patted Taemin's head chuffedly.

Minho, feeling somehow ignored, walked out through the door and said grumpily, "I'll be in the cafetaria, in case anyone needs me," he eyed Hongki a warning gaze. "And you. Just don't tell him anything that could put me in trouble."

"No worries," Hongki replied a bit too quickly, an inquisite twinkle crossed his eye.

The two watched Minho left with two different thoughts on their respective minds. Taemin felt a bit uneasy knowing that he might had offended his hyung's feeling, but Hongki thought Minho's leaving meant he could put some useful information to Taemin's head.

"Is he angry at me?" Taemin asked timidly.

Hongki laughed instantly. "I'd love to see that happens someday."

The younger's face was full of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Don't tell him that I told you this, but he always has this soft, cottony spot for you that he could never turn you down nor get angry at you," Hongki said with a big smile. "Don't use it to your advantages, though. At least not bluntly," he added with a smirk.

Taemin giggled. "Jonghyun-hyung told me a similar thing earlier too. Can't believe that Minho-hyung could have such... um..."

"Soft, cottony spot inside that though guy mask?" Hongki continued with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, as you put it that way..."

A short silence fell before Taemin braced himself to ask, "Hyung... what does Minho-hyung's boyfriend look like?"

Hongki was caught in surprise for a split second. "Why did you ask?"

Taemin lowered his gaze. "Um, just curious... Don't tell him I knew about his boyfriend, Jonghyun-hyung told me."

_Very well done, Jonghyun, _Hongki laughed in sleeve. "Well, since you asked..."

Taemin's eyes lit in anticipation.

"He's about your height and age," Hongki started, his sight wandered as if he was thinking. "His hair is colored in sandy brown, just like you, and with similar haircut as you. And he looks prettier than a girl."

Didn't find any sign of Taemin wanting to interrupt, he continued.

"He smiled a lot, I think that was what made Minho drawned to him at first. Since he's still young he might feel shy around his hyungs, and Minho knew from experience how hard it was to be the youngest, so he often consoles him and looks after him."

The dancer felt his stomach sank. "How did they met?"

"The company. They have been best mates since trainee days, so... yeah you could imagine how close they are."

Taemin tried to look for other less-heart-hurting information. "So he's a singer?"

"He is. And a very good dancer too."

"Do I know him?" Taemin was kind of sure that he was jealous right now.

Hongki's answer was quick, and not without that I-know-something-that-you-don't smirk. "I think you do."

**xxx**

After Hongki left and before Minho returned, Taemin lied on his back with his arms folded on his chest, staring at the ceiling, trying to make a guess of whom Minho was dating. He could remember some singers from the company, but none matched with the description Hongki had left him. Some were about his age and only a centimetres taller or shorter than him, but their hair wasn't dyed in brown. Some were very good dancers but they hadn't made their debut yet, so not quite singers. One was about his age, a bit shorter, brown-haired, a good dancer and singer, but didn't meet a specific characteristic of what Minho's boyfriend was like, that the person was not a she.

He inhaled a deep breath and huffed loudly, now lying on his side while getting his brain to recall things that Hongki mentioned.

He was about his age and height.

His hair was sandy brown, just like his own. With similar haircut.

_Who's he? A version two of me?_ Taemin snorted inelegantly.

Wait, that was...

No, Hongki couldn't possibly had implied those things as a clue.

Or could he?

* * *

><p>AN: I'm sorry it took so long to update, but now after I graduate I have plenty of time to think about the next chapter and instead of the upcoming uni life. Yay. Thanks for reading! Reviews are highly appreciated :D


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